A-Level A2 coursework- comparing two novels

Hii! Idk if I'll be much help, my exam board was eduqas. But the coursework is the same. We didn't really get a choice in our class. We did Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I'm very surprised not to see Handmaids tale on that set list. It seems to be a popular choice for other exam boards.
I would say, if you are given the choice, try and do some research into a few of the books that intrigue you from that list. Look at the key themes and reviews of the book to get a feel for the plots and key ideas. Also always keep in mind you are comparing one book from pre 2000s and one post 2000s. That's key, you don't want to accidentally do loads of research on two books from the same era. Then I would say after you've found 2 that kind of are alike in themes, buy the books, read them through once at least once, annotate and highlight any quotes that stand out to you (even if you don't know the context, it still made you go wow in that moment, everything authors have written is of importance, or so teachers say) - also I know there are people who hate annotations in books, but honestly it makes your life so much easier when you're looking through to find quotes to use later on.
Having read a few off that list, I particularly enjoyed We were liars by E lockhart. It's a relatively short book. Huge plot twist at the end. Deals with themes of family relationships, love, identity, mental health, death. Really beautifully written, lockhart's story telling throughout seems disfigured but reflects the protagonist's mental state.
Also, I began reading Yellowface by R.F Kuang. Again really beautifully written. Both authors' writing style is more modern, but Kuang is more conversational. Again, deals with issues of identity, relationships but also race + heritage (quite a big theme) and censorship. Unreliable narrators for both.
(please bare in mind they are both post 2000s)
Pre 2000s wise, I really enjoyed little women. Themes of family, love, gender roles, identity. Read it a really long time ago, so I can't remember it properly - might give it a reread soon.
We did a Christmas carol at gcse at our school - and yes it is christmassy but its also a gothic novella, a ghost story. Themes of redemption, memory, identity, one may argue love ( love for mankind, for each other, for oneself. )
Identity is a really good theme tbh. It's a theme almost every book explores in one context or another. Self identity, cultural identity, gender identity, sexual identity, things that shape identity (nature or nurture), losing identity, fake identity etc etc
Anyways, I hope that's somewhat made sense. Wishing you all the best! Good luck!

I just finished A2 CCEA English Lit and loved the coursework! My best advice is to definitely talk to your teacher and ask for books to read over the summer that discuss themes you want to study because my teacher helped me so much. Also, never use chat GPT for work, but it's really good for book recommendations if you tell it which themes you want and the literary level for example. I got 75/75 in this unit so I can help with any questions you have (:

omg you did so well!! what books did you do for the coursework and what did you do to get such a high mark? Good luck for results day!!

Hii! Idk if I'll be much help, my exam board was eduqas. But the coursework is the same. We didn't really get a choice in our class. We did Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I'm very surprised not to see Handmaids tale on that set list. It seems to be a popular choice for other exam boards.
I would say, if you are given the choice, try and do some research into a few of the books that intrigue you from that list. Look at the key themes and reviews of the book to get a feel for the plots and key ideas. Also always keep in mind you are comparing one book from pre 2000s and one post 2000s. That's key, you don't want to accidentally do loads of research on two books from the same era. Then I would say after you've found 2 that kind of are alike in themes, buy the books, read them through once at least once, annotate and highlight any quotes that stand out to you (even if you don't know the context, it still made you go wow in that moment, everything authors have written is of importance, or so teachers say) - also I know there are people who hate annotations in books, but honestly it makes your life so much easier when you're looking through to find quotes to use later on.
Having read a few off that list, I particularly enjoyed We were liars by E lockhart. It's a relatively short book. Huge plot twist at the end. Deals with themes of family relationships, love, identity, mental health, death. Really beautifully written, lockhart's story telling throughout seems disfigured but reflects the protagonist's mental state.
Also, I began reading Yellowface by R.F Kuang. Again really beautifully written. Both authors' writing style is more modern, but Kuang is more conversational. Again, deals with issues of identity, relationships but also race + heritage (quite a big theme) and censorship. Unreliable narrators for both.
(please bare in mind they are both post 2000s)
Pre 2000s wise, I really enjoyed little women. Themes of family, love, gender roles, identity. Read it a really long time ago, so I can't remember it properly - might give it a reread soon.
We did a Christmas carol at gcse at our school - and yes it is christmassy but its also a gothic novella, a ghost story. Themes of redemption, memory, identity, one may argue love ( love for mankind, for each other, for oneself. )
Identity is a really good theme tbh. It's a theme almost every book explores in one context or another. Self identity, cultural identity, gender identity, sexual identity, things that shape identity (nature or nurture), losing identity, fake identity etc etc
Anyways, I hope that's somewhat made sense. Wishing you all the best! Good luck!